How best to approach/befriend a professor?

Question

I'm an english major.

I'd like to befriend my professors this term so I can get get a job as an RA, get recommendation letters from them eventually, and simply get to know them.

How best do I approach a professor? At exactly what point in the semester is it best to make my first visit? How many visits are too many?

I think it's a little futile to ask only about a specific assignment - I want my professors to know I'm resourceful and can get help on my own. But I often don't know what to talk about with them.

Is it best to behave professionally, as though I'm attending an interview? Or do professors prefer students to be informal?

Also, how much time is appropriate to spend in a professor's office? I've heard of some students spending close to two hours talking to their professors.

How do I approach them about their OWN research? If I researched them ahead of time, is it creepy to let them know that? Finally, what does it take to get hired as an RA or a TA?

Thank you!

Answer 1

Visit your professors early in the semester, during their office hours. Five or six visits during the semester is fine.

On your first visit, identify yourself, and talk about your academic interests. Ask for additional readings for the course you're taking with them, but be specific. For example, if in one course, you're reading an article by a scholar who interprets data one way, ask the professor if s/he can recommend another article interpreting the data in another way, or using another methodology. Ask about graduate schools. Ask about the professor's own work. That's not creepy.

After your first visit, conversation should come more naturally. But never visit a professor just to waste their time. Have actual, meaningful questions or requests. And since you're visiting during office hours, do be considerate of other students, and if someone else is waiting, cut your visit short.

Finally, your goal of being awarded an research or teaching assistantship is admirable, but at most universities, you must be a graduate student in order to hold such a position. (These awards usually also carry full tuition remission, and a small living stipend.) However, if you do extremely well in your undergraduate classes (both in written assignments and in class discussion), then your current professors might be able to write great grad school letters of recommendation for you, and with stellar GRE scores, a great GPA, and a literate and methodologically informed personal statement, you might be considered for a TAship or RAship then.

Best wishes to you!